Relapse
by Beatriz
Summary: With the resurrection of Shinra and a dangerous new drug emerging, AVALANCHE returns. Conspiracies, betrayal and indiscretions cause enemies to become allies and allies to become enemies. Truth surfaces as all ends finally meet.
1. Bring it On Home

Relapse

Prologue

Yuffie Kisaragi, princess and heir to the Wutain throne, sat in the temporarily established debriefing room in boredom. Unfortunately, all the ceiling tiles have been counted and recounted more times than the total number of tiles determined, so that left barely anything for the youngster to focus on. Two years ago, she would have been outside, enjoying the warm rays on her olive skin and doing what she loved best - collecting rare types of materia. But, no, she had to be foolish and join a bunch of wet blankets who preferred an "all play and no work make Jack a dull boy" manipulation of the phrase.

"Yuffie, are you even paying attention?"

The dark haired teenager jumped up from her seat in surprise as her leader's sharp eyes narrowed on Yuffie annoyed.

"Huh?"

"Yuffie," Cloud sighed, running a hand through his blonde hair, "this is an important mission. Even if everyone knows what they're doing except you, the mission will still go right to hell. I need you to stop slacking off and pay attention. Everyone needs to do their part for this to succeed."

"I know how to infiltrate a security system," the ninja replied self-assured while folding her arms across her chest.

"Shinra's systems aren't your average convenient store security devices. No one gets into that place without alerting someone's attention," Vincent explained, tossing a blueprint he had rolled up besides him, "Being a Turk once, I cannot remember one person successfully entering Shinra grounds without sounding the alarm."

"And once the alarm sounds, we're done for it," Cloud finished, "I want us in and out, no brawn necessary. You being as small and nimble as you are, Yuffie, are the only one that can get through the motion detectors. Beyond the detectors is a panel, push the wrong button, game over. Understand? You can't pay attention, I want you out of here. I won't let your absentmindedness jeopardize our lives."

"Sorry," the ninja mumbled before picking up her mug and drinking the hot caffeinated beverage within while glancing briefly over the blue print of Shinra HQ. It wasn't even 11 o'clock yet and she had already gotten reprimanded for a short attention span. Yuffie didn't even know why she was here to begin with, the world had been saved and she had a golden opportunity to go her own separate way - basking in the sun being a very acceptable alternative to risking her life.

Oh yes, now slithers of recollection to why this decision had been worked through and cashed were coming to her. Something to do with Godo and royal obligations the AVALANCHE member had no intention of ever being ready for. Yuffie didn't know for sure if she made the right choice coming back, for all she knew running Wutai could have been a breeze with the elders being the real masterminds behind laws and construction, but she had to live with the consequences of that choice. She could have acted out every little girl's fantasy. She could have been a princess, a queen but, oddly, the ragamuffin decided to play hero instead.

Sighing, Yuffie took another craved sip of coffee and focused her attention back on "the spiky headed jerk." This was going to be a very long day.

-

"Sevens?"

"Go fish," Elena declared, holding her cards protectively against her chest while instigating by sticking out her tongue.

"This game is dumb."

"You're just being a sore loser. Seriously, Reno, I haven't seen anyone this bad at go fish since Tseng. And you know how bad Tseng was at grasping concepts when it came to card games. What's your excuse?"

"The concept to this game isn't worth grasping. Only broads like you have that kind of time," Reno muttered, reaching in his pocket and pulling out a cigarette.

"What's that?"

"Nothing, sugar," The red head smirked and winked before getting up from the table, tossing down his hand of cards, and heading over to the vending machine for it's cheaply made coffee.

He inserted five gil into the machine and leaned up against it to read the limited choices. Regular. Hazelnut. Decaf. Rolling his eyes, he hit the button choosing, "Regular."

"I can't believe you're still drinking that crap. I guess the saying is right, you really are what you eat."

"Quick fix," Reno replied without glancing back at his unwelcomed company, knowing full well who it was, "Funny, I figured you wouldn't have that kind of opinion considering your uncanny relation to something cheap."

Scarlet stared at her fellow employee, seething, "The only thing that's cheap besides the coffee is your personality, Reno!"

"So what do I owe to the toxicity of your presence, Scarlet? Surprised you could close your legs long enough to initiate innocent conversation."

"You are the most vile asshole I've ever met. I can't believe Tseng recruited you for the Turks. You belong picking up trash and putting it in your shopping cart, you inconsiderate little prick."

A moan escalated into a cry as the older member of Shinra Inc. climaxed along with her current sexual flavor. She dismounted the red head and fell beside him, recovering from the passionate encounter.

"You may be a punk Reno but you sure reach high society in my book when it comes to a good fuck," Scarlet replied breathlessly as a smile graced her sweat doused face.

He didn't reply, only reached down over on the ground from his high position on the bed and grabbed his trousers, sitting up. The Turk was never one to lay with a woman after sex. He felt that relayed a message that spoke more volumes than he was prepared to elude. Courting. Sex. Exit. Three simple words he religiously lived his one night stands by.

"Leaving so soon?"

Reno picked up on the smirking sarcasm in her voice while zipping and buttoning up his pants, "I have to go to a board meeting. Something about those jackasses from AVALANCHE regrouping."

"Like the publicity from saving the world wasn't enough to keep them busy," Scarlet muttered, grabbing a cigarette from her night stand and lighting it with Reno's extended zippo.

"Unfortunately, we don't have another Sephiroth stashed in the basement hell bent on re-summoning another apocalypse so we're stuck sufficing for their hobby. Word's going around that Spike was found possibly espionaging outside Shinra causing our new prez to suspect backlash."

"No need to worry about backlash, they'll never be able to sneak past security. President Yokimoto doubled the dosage of Mako a week ago for SOLDIER so those twits are done for if they stupidly decide to break in."

Reno looked down at his arm and noticed his normally healthy blue veins now tinted a slight green. Two weeks ago, President Yokimoto, with aspirations of rebuilding Shinra to it's pre-Meteor prosperity, had his brand new assembly of scientists manipulate a regular shipment of Mako into an X factor to use on members of SOLDIER for stamina and strength increases. But before taking that step and using the results on SOLDIER, Yokimoto decided to use the Turks as guinea pigs, realizing the potential invincibility clause this company would have if all of Shinra's warriors had this new promising concoction in their bloodstream.

"I'm not complaining about AVALANCHE's demise, they've been on my last nerve since our first encounter, but Yokimoto better watch how he disposes of them. A scandal of the murder of this planet's survivors could run this company right back into the ground."

The Turk ignored his boss's rant, putting on the crumpled up white dress shirt while remembering the injection. How and why he agreed to it was beyond him, what he did know was once that crap entered his body he went as far back as regretting ever joining the Turks. It burned worse than being set on fire and the convulsions were unbearable. The veins on his pale arm pulsated to the point where an explosion wasn't all that farfetched as his stomach churned violently and bile escaped tightened lips. Rude experienced similar symptoms, but it was Elena who almost didn't make it through, practically lapsing into a coma.

"Contemplating the best another one bites the dust exit phrase?" Scarlet asked putting out the cigarette on the porcelain ashtray while observing her comrade skeptically, "I've heard them all so don't bother."

He smirked, turning his eyes back to the woman on the bed, "Don't worry, babe, I'm giving you leigh way. Besides, we both know this is bound to happen again so a catch phrase, no matter how witty it happens to be, is just a waste of time."

"Touche."

With that said, leaning over and collecting his jacket, Reno waved a short good-bye and walked out the door without shame. He whistled a tune, winking at a bubbly secretary walking down the hall, and reaching in his pocket for a cigarette. The day, fortunately, was not going to waste unlike all the other days he encountered without a mission to keep him occupied. Good moods were not so easy to come by when it came to Turks. But today this Turk had his head held high with nothing but a possible verbal lashing by the president at his next destination being the only cloud in his crystal blue sky. Nope, right now no one would rain on his parade.

"Huh?" Reno murmured, pulling out the featherweight pack of smokes and examining them closely. Opening the box, he found to his dismay the contents of the package empty. A single red eyebrow shot up and quivered in annoyance. Of course, he had been foolish to briefly accept any kind of association between a Turk and a good day.

"Damn..."

-

"President Yokimoto, I have the file you wanted on the before and after statistics of the people injected with Avex, the new Mako formula."

President Yokimoto, a tall muscular man in his mid thirties, stared out the window and upon the construction occurring to restore Midgar. He wanted a Midgar for the powerful, the rich, therefore banishing the idea of restoring an area for the slum dwellers to go back home to. If they wanted a place to live, he had told the inquisitive head of construction, they could get a job and pay their way back into the rebuffed sectors.

"Thank you, Malcom, you may go now."

Malcom, the president's second in command and head of laboratory studies, proceeded to leave but stopped for a moment, "We have lost many people using this type of Mako. Some have successfully flourished while others...people have died, lost their sight, and even began to mutate from the overabundance of Mako distributed. President, we're creating monsters, I really don't think..."

"Malcom, I don't pay you to think ethically. I pay you to come up with new worthwhile formulas and do as I tell you to do with them," the patient leader replied, turning away from the sight of the outside world to his company, "I want an army. An army that could crush any enemy with one blow, not an army of pussies. Don't make me regret hiring you. Shinra and his son failed and are now residing in the ground because they were foolish enough to doubt Hojo and his experiments. Lose the conscience, kid, or you're out of here."

"Yes, sir," Malcom muttered barely audible before leaving his boss to himself and preparing to redistribute injections to newcomers.

There was no way Henry Yokimoto was going to lose perspective of a new more competent company due to a struggle between right and wrong. There is no such thing as innocent decisions regarding a monopoly. When it came to a successful business, not a temporary success but an infinite one, the line separating right and wrong was blurred, allowing the two opposites to merge. He worked too hard to get this far to tolerate any conflicting ideas.

The handsome businessman grabbed the top files and separated them on his desk. Rude Madden. Elena Connors. Reno Perablo. The Turks had been Yokimoto's first choice of experimentation. Actually, to be more specific, the loud mouth Turk, Perablo, had been his first and only choice but that meant questions he wasn't preparing to answer and the last place the president wanted to be was up against the wall with no escape. So, to exclude and hide away certain motives, the Turks were assigned to be the first humans to test the new drug.

Elena Connors' file was picked up first from the desk and opened up for examination. She was the only one who experienced a serious alert almost immediately after the shot. Her blood pressure had skyrocketed through the roof and she was left spiraling into cardiac arrest. It took Malcom injecting a saline solution to clean out most of the Mako from her blood for the return of normal bodily functions. The newbie patriarch of Shinra Inc. looked down at the stats and pictures of her post injection condition.

Rude Madden's file was next. He was impressed with what he saw. The silent cohort's statistics had improved greatly with little side effects from the foreign substance in his system. President Yokimoto looked down at the paper clipped pictures and noticed no drastic change in his demeanor, unlike the third prospect.

Malcom had automatically told him that Reno Perablo had been accidentally injected with more Mako than his other two partners out of concern for the red head and the fear of losing his job. After the procedure, Reno had passed out, his vitals extremely weak and barely any hope for rehabilitation. Malcom had given his patient the same solution he had previously given the ailing blonde but it was no use. As time progressed, veins on the hitman's arms had developed a small green tint of poison to them as usually vivacious aquamarine eyes became distorted. Instead of two eyes of the same color, one remained green while the other changed and embraced more of the blue aspect of the hybrid aqua shade. The pictures were slightly sick, revealing a very pale and unconscience Shinra employee.

There were always casualties, the sadist told himself while closing the file. All that mattered was the fact that he didn't waste any money in this routine considering every one of the demonstrated subjects had benefited from the procedure. He needed bodyguards who could take on the weight of the world if necessary and now with all this done that was exactly what he had.

He was indeed relieved Reno had recovered from the overbearing side affects. He might be incompetent and brash but Perablo was essential to Shinra. His abilities were remarkable and now with Avex in his system, he far surpassed the potential of any complimentary word received.

"President Yokimoto, everyone is waiting for you in the conference room."

"Thank you, Sarah."

Migar and all it's many resources were ripe for the picking and if everything went according to plan, the world would be nothing more than a slave to his project. There was only one thing, or should he say group, getting in his way and soon, they would be nothing more than just a distant memory to grieve.

-

"Keep your balance!"

The small brunette threw a punch at her aggressor, back springing before he could retaliate. She grabbed the arm of another interfering woman, who in turn reversed the hold and tossed the girl to the ground. The surprise of the attack didn't quite shock her as much as a foot above her head ready to make her face nothing more than a design of black and blues.

"Yo," she shouted after rolling out the way of the stomp and jumping back up into defensive stance.

"Do you think if someone from SOLDIER or a Turk had that advantage over you, they wouldn't hesitate for one second to use it against you?" Cloud inquired, not stopping his sparing once with the youngster to get that brief comment across, "Stay on your toes! Don't stop for anything. I don't care if those scumbags are begging for their lives, you keep going because if you stop once..."

The blonde grabbed Wutain royalty by the back of the neck, sliding his foot to trip her onto the ground once again, and pulling a fake knife to a constricted throat, "you're dead."

Yuffie watched her leader get back on his feet, offering a hand of support shortly afterwards. She took it, wiping the dirt off filthy sweatpants from constant confrontations with the earth.

"You did good, Yuffie. You're definitely improving."

"Not good enough apparently," Yuffie declared bitterly, moving her hands from dusting off sweatpants to removing chunks of hardened mud from her hair, "Eww...grossness."

"Getting yourself dirty is the least of your problems," Cloud pointed out while toweling himself off, "Now with Yokimoto bringing that drug, Avex, into mainstream, that will make our enemies stronger and faster than they originally were. This is no joke, you need to train hard to keep up."

"OK, enough with the training," Tifa Lockheart exclaimed from her position on the plush grass, "I think it's about time to get something to eat. You hungry, Yuff?"

"Starved."

"C'mon, I'll make you some lunch and I'll leave you two to discuss what's written all over your faces," the full figured brunette stated, giving Cloud a look before putting an arm around her shorter teammate and leading her inside the cozy house.

The blonde watched the two girls walk away, moved the soft cotton towel around his neck, and focused sapphire eyes on his gothic comrade, "We need reinforcements. I didn't want to call the others but I have no choice. Cid and Barrett have their families, Red XIII was made an elder in Cosmo Canyon, and Reeve is currently in Shinra, preparing for our attack all requiring a lot of individual attention. Now, judging the fact that us three wouldn't stand a chance taking down Shinra alone, I'm not so sure we can give Cid, Barrett, or Nanaki that kind of peace."

Vincent stood up straight, moving his back from against the old rickety fence, "If they are necessary in our attack, it is for the best we summon them. They are our allies and I am sure they will they will understand our situation. Yuffie is struggling to keep up, if we do not have someone to vigil her and her actions, we will not emerge victorious."

"She's a good fighter but she's reckless. She's not taking this seriously."

"Let us call the others and then we will decide what to do from there."

Cloud nodded curtly before throwing the towel on his shoulders aside. Practically giving a perfect depiction of proper body language, Vincent stepped forward and took his position. The planet's savior struck first only to have his attempt blocked and reflected effortlessly. Tomorrow will be the day for new beginnings. Tomorrow will be a gateway into a parallel universe that AVALANCHE has not dared wandered back into since the incident with Sephiroth. It will be the day for hello and good-byes. Tomorrow, everything will change with no escape back into comfortable normalcy.


	2. Dazed and Confused

Chapter 1

Dazed and Confused

11:47.

Reno walked determined down the narrow hallway. He couldn't understand why the President had to completely turn Shinra upside-down. Glancing up, the tall redhead almost expected some twisted scene in a painting where the room was actually on the ceiling defying gravity. Original blue prints were still in the storage room, why couldn't Yokimoto just design "new Shinra" after "old Shinra." It had taken Reno nearly two years to know where everything was and now, thanks to more square feet and a bigger is better mentality, it would take the Turk another three years to navigate this jungle.

"Hey, doll," Reno asked flirtatiously, lifting sunglasses back to its original place on top of his head, "Would you happen to know where the conference room is at? You can't move around this place without passing the same room twice."

Sarah, the newest blonde haired, green eyed addition to Shinra, smiled at the lothario with a blush creeping across her pale cheeks, "It's on the second floor. Just take the elevator over there up to the second floor and walk down the hall. The conference room is right there. Can't miss it."

"Thanks...Sarah."

Reno blew his potential bunkmate a kiss after reading her name off the tag on her shirt. His gaze took in more than just her name.

"See you around, sweetheart."

"Hope so. Bye. Don't get yourself lost."

"I wouldn't mind, gives me the opportunity to see your pretty face again."

Sarah giggled, waving her hand seductively in an assertive manner, "Such a flirt. I bet you say that to all the girls."

Before harmones could answer back flatteringly, a voice was heard behind them, not sounding all too pleased, "No, he says it when he should be somewhere specific to girls who should be working."

The blonde blushed again and bowed her head embarrassed, "Forgive me, President Yokimoto, it won't happen again."

Yokimoto looked from the apologetic secretary to the his smug bodyguard, "Aren't you supposed to be somewhere?"

"Funny, I was just about to say the same thing."

"Watch your mouth, you ballsy little shit."

Reno looked up and took a good glance at his boss. A small vein stuck out on his forehead in pure anger as a twitch became evident on his left eye. He had seen these symptoms before. Hell, it had been those same "symptoms" that resulted in the tantrum which left him with the two scars under his eyes.

"Sorry. I'll be on my way."

"One more strike, Perablo, and you're out on your ass, understood?"

"Like the English language."

"Get out of my sight and to where you're supposed to be. I'm up there before you and you'll be cleaning the lavatories for the next year."

The Turk said nothing more. Taking a glance back at his previous conversation set back and smirking, he turned the other way and whistled a tune to put a little bounce in his step and disdain in the president's heart.

"Sarah, I want to see you in my office when the meeting's done."

"Yes sir," the small beauty declared soft spoken.

"And bring whatever bit of information you have on file about Reno Perablo."

Green eyes watched the intimidating supervisor walk away with a heavy stride. Whatever President Yokimoto wanted to do with Reno's file wasn't good. Ever since she could remember, when those two crossed paths there was always a confrontation. Whether it was the president saying something utterly demeaning or it was Reno dealing out yet another cocky retort, the walls shook when these two got together. She wasn't surprised if Yokimoto thought of the Turk as a threat and, therefore, wished to remove him.

Sarah sighed, "Well, there goes my Friday night."

-

She sighed, looking at her childhood friend while sipping the hot tea daintily, careful not to burn her sensitive tongue. He had been on his PHS all morning trying to reach the missing members of their elite team. Barrett. Red XIII. Cid. It had been too long. Tifa had been especially close to Barrett, the brick wall built warrior filling in for her father who had tragically lost his life when she was just a teenager.

She remembered how they met. Some ill intentioned prick had had a little too much to drink and was trying to slip himself into her bed shamelessly. One look at Barrett's menacing demeanor and heavy artillery, the guy high tailed it out of the bar obviously not as drunk as everyone had assumed considering he had remembered enough never to come back again.

"Cid's in. He'll be here tonight. Red XIII can't make it until tomorrow. Now all that's left is Barrett. He shouldn't be so hard to convince. All I need to do is mention Shinra and he'll beat Cid to the finish line," Cloud declared relieved after hanging up the PHS.

"The way you're reacting, you don't think we'll all make it out alive do you?"

The ex-SOLDIER took sight of the brunette across from him and proceeded to look up at the ceiling pensively, "I don't know. There's a possibility that some may die fighting or even in the crossfire. That's why I'm leaving this mission optional. You don't need to do this, Teef."

Tifa was taken aback by her companion's nickname. Cloud hadn't called her Teef since they were kids. She never did bother to ask why he just suddenly quit using that affectionate name figuring it was a maturity thing.

"No, Cloud, I'm in. I want Shinra out of my life for good. If I don't do this, I know I'll regret it later. This is a cause I'm more than eager to fight and die for."

"I won't let you die," Cloud promised, cerulean eyes moving from the ceiling to something more active, "I won't let anyone in this team die."

Burgundy eyes shone in playful delight as a smile graced her lovely face, "Always the hero; I knew from the moment I saw you again in Seventh Heaven that you couldn't be anything but."

"No. I'm not a hero. At least not when it counted."

"Cloud, Aeris' death wasn't..."

"It's getting late, I better go to the market before it closes from lunch. I'll be back soon," the blonde sidetracked, placing his PHS securely in his pocket before getting up from his comfortable seat on the couch.

Taking a deep breath, Tifa watched as Cloud grabbed his jacket and walked right out the door with not so much as a good-bye or even a brief head nod. She took another sip of tea. He was never going to get over the flower girl or the guilt of her death. Why would he? Aeris was beautiful with the purest heart you would ever see in the real world. Cloud loved her. He denied it when Tifa asked about a year ago, before the whole Shinra madness came about, saying he didn't love her just cared about her deeply. There was always something lingering beneath the surface of his heart that breathed Aeris. If her memory was to suddenly disappear, so would everything that kept this planet's hero alive.

Tifa took one last drink from the teacup and proceeded to get up herself. She just hoped the others would get here as soon as possible. The feeling of being immersed in a group and keeping her mind occupied by battle tactics was the only way she could stop thinking about Cloud. She wanted Cloud out of her mind. No, more like deserved the peace she would receive with the spiky haired man out of her thoughts.

She only hoped it would happen sooner, when it actually counted, instead of later.

-

"Where were you?"

Elena stared as Reno slumped down into his seat and placed sunglasses over his tired eyes without saying as much as a single word of recognition. It angered the petite blonde severely when her partner acted this ignorant. So with curiously swift movements, the female Turk leaned forward and removed the sunglasses from his eyes before smacking him upside the head, hard.

"Ow, Elena! What the fuck!"

She glared at the red head when noticing the flush of his face and the more than normally disheveled "Reno hair," "You boned Scarlet, again!"

"No."

"No?"

"No. We made love," Reno sarcastically replied, rolling his eyes at the intrusion into his personal life.

"You know, you really have some nerve! Reeve did so much for all of us and you're screwing his girl. You really have a hell of a way of repaying kindness."

"He's doing exactly what I'm doing with her. No strings. No relationship."

"Idiot!" Elena hissed, smacking the Turk upside the head again, "The reason there's no relationship is because she's too busy fucking you."

"Damn! Stop smacking me. Look if the guy didn't claim her, she's free to do whoever she wants. It's not fault he's all dick and no balls."

The agitated firecracker packed up her jacket and binder only to be interrupted by, "Where are you going?"

"Away. I can't sit next to a farm animal."

"Elena..."

"Oink. Oink," she spat out before taking another seat around the large oval table.

"Chicks," Reno muttered, looking over at Rude who was being as quiet as ever but giving his friend a questioning look, which sufficed for him not opening his mouth, "PMS."

"Good afternoon, I'm sorry for my tardiness but I had business to attend to," President Yokimoto began immediately after entering to room without warning, catching a glimpse of Reno, "Guess cleaning toilets doesn't exactly throw you through a loop, does it Reno?"

The president smirked at the assassin's bitter silence, knowing full well that he had just gotten under his skin, "Don't worry, Perablo, there's always a toilet with your name on it if you change your mind. Back to business. I've called you all here today to briefly discuss our situation with AVALANCHE. For now, there are only four members regrouped as far as I was informed. Cloud Strife. Tifa Lockheart. Vincent Valentine. Yuffie Kisaragi."

He tossed down pictures of the four once he called out individual names, "Now, what's obvious about this little reunion is the fact that they assembled to dismember my company. Here's why you're here, I want them out of the picture without any association between you and the removing. There cannot be attachments or there will be scandal which we absolutely can't afford right now."

The pictures were passed around the table. Reno glanced at each photo with a skilled eye until his gaze fell upon one of a young woman with short brown hair and large onyx eyes. The ninja chick, Yuffie. Noticing his boss's eyes burning through his suspiciously he carelessly passed the pictures to Rude who then passed them over to Elena.

"You saw the targets first hand, seen them in action. Use the facts you know to your advantage. Do what you must to get rid of them but be prudent in your actions. Remember, no scandals! You have your mission lined up, get busy. You have two weeks to meet your deadline. Any questions?"

"I have one," Elena declared while raising her hand up in a small attention grabbing wave.

"This should be good," Reno chuckled, quirking an eyebrow up at the woman across from him, expecting a usual idiotic question to come out of her mouth.

"Shut up, asshole."

"Rookie."

"Whore."

"Blonde."

"Enough," Yokimoto shouted, the vein previously revealed to Reno now remerging itself like a freak show for all to watch hypnotically, "this is a professional place of business, not the third grade. I don't want your crap here, especially during a debriefing. Reno! Keep your shit up and watch where you end up. Any more comments, smart ass?"

The promiscuous Shinra employee blew Elena, who scowled viciously, a kiss before turning to the president and shaking his head with a smirk, moving his hand circularly in a motion which obliged him to continue.

"Now Elena, continue with your question," he growled, directing the comment at Elena but shooting Reno a venomous look as his eyes remained glued with purpose on the target.

"As I was saying before 'can't keep it in his pants' interrupted. The Turks' assassination methods are infamous. How are we supposed to not draw attention to ourselves when it comes to taking out AVALANCHE? All eyes are on them, a hit without attention just ain't happening."

Yokimoto smiled, surprisingly having it in him to take his eyes off the prize, "I'm not paying you ridiculous amounts of gil for nothing. Figure it out. You've got two weeks, with professionals such as yourselves, that should be more than sufficient. Any more questions? Good."

The tall businessman gathered his belongings and made his exit just as quick as the previous entrance. The door slammed shut leaving three bamboozled Turks behind. Elena blinked confused. Reno repeated placement of his sunglasses on his thin face, looking up at the ceiling. And Rude...was just being Rude. They all possessed different reactions yet the thought was practically identical to the other. How were they going to put AVALANCHE out of their misery in secrecy when all attention and possible security was focused on them?

"Stupid hero complex," Reno mummered before getting up and leaving, not bothering to share any confliction floating around in his boggled head plaguing him. Judging by the extremity of the confliction, it was only a matter of time before his comrades were in the know. Why push his execution when he had a few days of precious life before being completely eradicated?

-

"Cid, how have you been?" Tifa asked with a smile, giving the older pilot a quick hug.

"Can't complain."

The blonde had grown old through the two years of separation. There were various gray streaks through his short hair and carefully hidden fury beyond practically any of the members of AVALANCHE in his crystal blue eyes. He currently had a little girl back home with his wife, Shera. A lot has happen after Meteor including a yet in progress launch into space which was being put on hiatus due to his call back into the life of a superhero.

"So what's this all about?"

Cloud finished shaking his teammate's hand, beginning his vague explanation of the intrusion's reason, "Shinra. Highly evolved Mako drug. I'll explain the rest in detail when the others get here."

"Is it just us three now?" Cid asked, examining the small cozy looking house he would be spending his time away from Rocket town in. It was a two story vila with a Spanish looking undertone and a small garden populating the sides of the walkway.

"No," the AVALANCHE's leader began, leading the pilot into the house, "Vincent and Yuffie are here too. We're waiting on Barrett and Red XIII."

"That's just great, my materia will be gone before we get this whole Shinra thing done and over with," Cid muttered, placing a watching hand over his materia slot.

"Yuffie has matured a lot since you have been gone."

"Shit..." He placed a free hand over his pounding heart at seeing Vincent Valentine appear out of thin air, "You wanna give me a heart attack!"

"Yuffie did grow up a lot since Meteor and Sephiroth," Cloud began again, ignoring the under-appreciated very "Vincent" entrance into the scene, "Still wouldn't trust her with my materia though."

"Ha! You could say that again."

"I'll make us all some tea," Tifa offered, eager to break out of the pensive awkwardness of her friend's bad habit. She entered the kitchen only to poke her head back out into the awkwardness seconds later, "Speaking of Yuffie. Where is she?"

-

A figure climbed out of the two story house by the window and scaled down with ease. That had been incredibly easy...too incredibly easy. She had almost expected one of her temporary roommates to be at the bottom pointing up to the bedroom window for her to climb right back up into it. But, alas, there was nobody and she was free to explore the dark of night without conditions or unwanted company.

Yuffie walked through the streets of Kalm, looking around and taking in the sights before her. The town was quiet, many of the night owls who bothered to come out were currently in the bar having a good old fashioned time while various women were gathered around stereotypically gossiping. The ninja wasn't even supposed to be out alone. With Shinra on guard and suspicious of any onslaught, the streets were a dangerous place to be if you were a member of AVALANCHE.

She continued on her voyage, scouting out any worthwhile places to eat. Yuffie would rather take her chances running into an enemy than finding a decent meal in Tifa health conscience kitchen. Everything in that house was either fish or vegetables. No red meat. No soda. No chocolate. Taste bud suicide lingered in the cool depths of the refrigerator and Yuffie was in no mood to do battle with pure evil. A nice big burger with the works would do just nicely to satisfy her hunger.

Smiling at the twenty-four hour diner, Yuffie whistled a tune and proceeded to make herself a willing participant of their grease ingesting ways. She walked, foolish to let her stomach's needs distract her, and before she knew it felt herself being jerked back into the dark alley. The young heroine tried to scream but couldn't due to the rough calloused hands over her mouth. Without thinking, she jerked around, allowing her legs to run amuck and began kicking in desperation.

"Stop acting defected!"

Dark eyes widened at the familiarity of the deep voice, sarcasm commonly laced into his cold words. The feeling of his touch came back to her as she leaned her back up against a lean chest reminiscing. It had been a long time, a time she tried to make herself forget when a reunion between herself and a select number of her team occurred. Yuffie's motions ceased, continuing to remember back.

"Finally," the deep voice sighed, allowing his grip to loosen considerably. Hands moved enough for the much smaller girl to move slightly forward and replaster tine hairs, which were rising up from the contact of his breath on her neck, back to it's natural position. The alley was quiet for the longest moment in hourglass history before Yuffie Kisaragi turned around and faced her captor, proving her suspicions correct.

"Reno..."


	3. Nobody's Fault but Mine

Chapter 2

Nobody's Fault but Mine

"Reno..."

"In the flesh babe," Reno declared, a smirk gracing his face shamelessly. He moved from out of the shadows and looked down at the younger individual before him. Her face looked the same as it had a year ago, sans babyfat and slightly protruding cheekbones. His gaze traveled down lower and noticed no real changes. Still the same skinny leggy brat.

Yuffie took in the sight before her and finally realized this was no joke, no dream, it was all too real and those sentiments caused an explosion of fury. Her small hand swung back and collided with the Turk's face leaving behind a swelling sensation for both candidates to deal with.

"Wow, happy to see you too, brat."

"What the hell are you doing here?" Yuffie shouted angrily, "It's been more than a year, Reno! No call. No letter. No anything! I just wake up one morning and you're gone. I never hear from you again. I had to see your picture in the paper to know you went back to Shinra! You have no fucking consideration for anyone!"

Reno watched as crimson painted his ex's face and remembered back to their trysts. He knew it was the anger that fueled previous passionate encounters they had. The anger and the possibility of getting caught by their teammates. It was a thrill. He would never openly say but she also wasn't that bad. There were times when Yuffie actually made him laugh. Hardly any women made Reno laugh, at least not genuinely.

"Even now you have nothing to say to me," Yuffie shouted, placing her hands on her narrow hips, "You haven't changed at all. After a year, you're still the same arrogant dumbass!"

"Can you shut up for a second?" Reno explained, feeling his temples pounding incessantly, "We do need to talk but it's not about us."

"We have nothing to talk about. Do what it is you do best and just disappear."

The Wutain turned the other way and began to make a proud exit, thoughts of her sky high burger returning as her stomach rumbled in lust.

"You're not getting out of here that easy. I just pulled a lot of bullshit to come and see you so you're gonna stay put and listen!"

Reno grabbed the thin wrist preparing to escape with the rest of Yuffie Kisaragi. He held onto it earnestly and ceased her from moving any further. His eyes burned down on her and noticed the endearing innocence, which he would never admit affected his own mentality about purity, had disappeared. In no doubt, it had been his own fault. Reno had done this to plenty of girls he had bedded so that absence had not left behind much afterthought.

"Let go, jackass!"

"Can we set aside any hard feelings and just talk minus insults?"

"You walked out on me, you have no right to make up the rules! I..."

The red head grabbed his determined hostage's other wrist and flung her up against the brick wall, careful not to cause any damage, "Listen to me, Yuffie! I came to find you because you really don't have all that much time."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Yokimoto wants you and your little group of unmasked crusaders dead! He gave us - me, Elena, and Rude - the mission today for two weeks. Two weeks, if you're not dead, it's my ass and job on the line."

The small brunette stared up at her enemy, the ability to speak leaving her list of skills briefly. She knew something like this was bound to happen sooner or later. Shinra and its leaders were ruthless in achieving its masochistic goals. Plus, they didn't have hitmen just for tacky decoration purposes.

Without thinking any further, Yuffie brought her leg back and collided it right between the taller man's legs rewarding the ninja with a yelp of pain and loosening grip. She yanked her hands free, pushed her assailant back, and made a break for it. Her legs burned from the harsh vibrations of her stomping feet against the concrete floor. Mere minutes before she could get back into the comforting reality of Kalm, Yuffie was yet again jerked back into the shadow's embrace.

"Get off," she screamed, thrashing her arms around and trying desperately to escape her future murderer's grasp. In a repetitive motion, Yuffie was lightly slammed back against the wall but this time instead of being pinned and receiving the verbal thrashing on her life, Reno placed his lips on hers gently at first but then deepening it with passion soon after.

Yuffie melted into the Turk's lean body, her hands placed above her head locked with his own atop for precaution's sake. She wanted to push back, give him another knee to the groin surprise but the action's desire dissipated into the escalating pleasure of the sinful moment. This was wrong, she knew it, but then again the thief was never really much for rules.

-

"Scarlet...where are you going?"

The vixen continued to put on her clothes, ignoring the prying question of one of her many lovers. Even if this one treated her the best, which was the truth in the matter, she could not attach herself to any particular person. Scarlet had to have a choice, she would not subject herself to the slavery love ultimately condemns. Freedom was her main priority, not the warm fuzzy feelings love and infatuation were rumored to possess.

"I'm going to see Reno."

"Reno?"

"Yes, Reeve, Reno. You know, attitude with red hair and a slouch."

Reeve smirked at her sarcasm. It may have been cold at times but there was always that underlining humor that made it somewhat enjoyable.

"I know who Reno is but why do you have to go see him? It's late."

She sighed knowing the impact his reaction would carry. The truth would set someone free, or the saying went, but not without driving someone mad on the way to pure enlightenment.

"Don't ask and I won't have to feed you any lies."

Reeve quirked a dark eyebrow up, his eyes never leaving the back of the girl who his heart pounded and went out to, "Then don't lie to me. Tell me the truth."

He was pretty sure where this was going but needed to hear it directly from her mouth to his ears. Reeve needed to know the truth for wondering would drive him far more insane than the jealousy of the thoughts provoked from the topic.

"Why? It'll only drive you insane in the end," Scarlet demanded, violet eyes looking back curiously.

"Just tell me."

"We don't have a relationship so I'm not going to hide it any longer or feel bad for the effect it's gonna have. Reno and I have been seeing each other...and that's where I'm going, to see him right now."

Reeve sat back for the longest time, his thoughts jumbled together like puzzle pieces dying to be connected. He thought of Reno and Scarlet together. He thought of Reno touching Scarlet in ways only he should be able to touch her in. Passionate temper flared as a normally healthy heart pumped green into a cold bloodstream. Jealousy coursed like death into his body, killing any love within and replacing it with blatant hatred.

"Why are you doing this?" Reeve hissed, grabbing Scarlet's wrist roughly and yanking the woman back into him, "I gave you everything! I gave you things that prick doesn't have it in him to express. I treated you like a queen!"

Scarlet snatched her arm away from his tight grasp and quickly jumped up from the bed directly into safety, "I'm not a queen. We're not in love so stop acting like we are!"

"You're right," Reeve declared, his voice rising with every spoken word, "You're no queen, you're a fucking slut! Get out of my sight, whore! Get the fuck out!"

Calculating eyes fell sadly upon her lover, soft lips parting and closing again rhythmically in desperation of finding the right words to say. She wanted to say so much, wanted to prove that his expressed emotions and kindness were not in vain. No one had ever shown the compassion to her that this man had. Her feet moved forwards, outstretching a hand of comfort to the shattered heart before her.

"Get out," Reeve bellowed, warm brown eyes frosting over with glazing tears of fury, "Just get out! I don't want you here anymore. You're a fucking omen, Scarlet. I never want to see you again."

Scarlet sighed, lowering her arm and turning around without a second glance, "Good-bye, Reeve. Please don't hate me. If I could, you would be someone I would easily...love."

"Get out..."

The door opened slowly, shining unwelcomed light into the dim room. After a short pause, the door opened wide, letting out what it previously let in, and clicking shut short moments later. Darkness, yet again, reigned.

Reeve scrubbed at his eyes, staring at the immobile door, in a way hoping it would open and reveal a very apologetic Scarlet. In another way, he was glad the door remained closed, his hopes residing in the harlot taking a painful plunge down the stairs. He cursed himself for his stupidity. Tseng had been right, he was too damn soft for his own good.

His jaw clenched, blinding fury taking over his entire body ruthlessly. There was no control, he was a pawn to his own emotional downfall and that only caused him to become angrier. Without warning, Reeve got out of bed and knocked over everything on his night stand. The porcelain lamp crashed and shattered all over the floor. Important documentation joined the shards of glass against their will.

Reeve grabbed the sheets and ripped them off before tossing the mattress over. The bureau, in all its fine wood crafting glory, was next in line for abuse. The mind warped zombie, with surprisingly inhuman strength, held onto the side and pushed the heavy object over without a moment's hesitation. It fell over with a loud thump, wood chips flying all over as proof of illicit violence.

Rabid eyes searched the room, almost seeming to sober up when noticing the horror he would be forced to clean up himself sooner or later. Reeve had never truly known himself to possess the darkness necessary to achieve this type of malice. He had always been the bunny rabbit in a cage full of tigers and bears, a cage full of hunters. The nice guy who, ironically, always finished last.

The newly appointed hunter sunk to the ground, evaluating his life to be nothing more than oppressing. He was the car in the junkyard. The can in the recycle bin. But no more. Reeve Marigoto would no longer play the part of passive. For once, he would be the cause of action.

He should thank Reno for this sudden revelation...on second thought, Reeve pondered with a smile perking up on his once solemn face, a thank you is definitely in order.

-

"She's not in her room," Tifa exclaimed coming down the stairs and eyeing everyone in the nicely decorated room.

"Don't tell me she went out alone," Cloud muttered, balling up a fist and then releasing, "That girl never listens!"

"I'm sure she's fine. Yuffie can handle herself, at least she's old enough to start," Cid declared, removing the cigarette from his mouth and blowing out excess carbon monoxide.

"I'm going out looking for her," Tifa stated, moving towards the coat rack for a jacket to wear.

"Tifa..."

"No, Cloud! I'm going out looking for her, she could be in trouble."

Cloud narrowed cerulean eyes on his closest friend, not moving from his position on the recliner, "If Yuffie wants to be on this team, she has to understand the concepts of following rules. She's a loose canon, she only wants to do what she wants without regard for others!"

"Being a part of this team means we have to look out for each other because we are all the other has."

"Don't be so naive, Tifa. We are our own best ally, in the end, we fight for our own lives. Yuffie doesn't understand that, she thinks we're always gonna be right there saving her ass when she needs it. I'm tired of it, she needs to learn that there won't always be a safety net."

Tifa stared in wide eyed wonder, freezing in place as though time had ceased to exist. She couldn't believe her ears, after all these years and experience, Cloud was still the same proud, standoffish individual that walked into seventh heaven that fateful night so long ago.

"You know what, I never told you this because I had too much respect for you but now after hearing all this I just suddenly got the feeling in my spine back. How can you say something like that after all those times you pulled your I'm not Cloud Strife, I'm just a puppet hypnosis act? We saved your ass on that and so many other occasions. If it weren't for us, you'd still be Sephiroth's bitch with that promising attractive afterlife glow. So don't you dare sit there with your we're all alone in the end spiel because it's bull. I'm going out looking for Yuffie, if you wanna come, great, I could really use the extra help. If not, all I can say is - you're a jackass, Cloud Strife!"

The younger of the two blondes could do nothing but watch the shapely figure make an exit, the door slamming shut signifying her disappearing act success.

"Wow...what got into her?" Cid asked, not bothering to replace a stubbed out cigarette with a fresh new stick of nicotine.

Cloud didn't bother to answer, all he did was repeat the female's action by grabbing his jacket and leaving by the same door the fuming brunette had.

Cid Highwind was left alone to light up another cigarette to further blacken his lungs. He sighed, trying to take in what had just occurred, "Everyone's gone crazy."

-

"Is this all you can find on Reno Perablo?"

The small blonde glanced at her boss occasionally through naturally averting eyes, chewing her bottom lip nervously. He had always made her feel extremely uncomfortable ever since that first day he said, "You're hired." There was something menacing behind his professional exterior that she didn't trust to be alone with.

"Yes, sir. That was all the information I could find on him. Anything else?"

President Yokimoto looked his secretary up and down before smirking, "No, Sarah, that will be all."

Sarah nodded, turning around and practically dashing out of the tense office in relief. His eyes probed her enough to cut an impressive circumference through her small body. The innocent eye candy now understood first hand what her friend Sofia, who also worked for Shinra, had meant about their new boss and his perverse fascination with female employees.

President Yokimoto continued to watch as the younger woman made an exit. One thing Reno had in common with Yokimoto was apparently his preferred Lolita complex. The younger, it seemed, the more active and apparently better choice when it came to bedding material.

Frowning, the president looked from the door to his desk. On the surface laid folders on the development of one of his best Turks from childhood to the man he was today. Any secrets or scandals, murders, basic statistics were bestowed within this very folder. He hadn't bothered to look through the contents until now, hearing from reliable sources that Reno Perablo was your best man if you wanted something done quickly and efficiently.

If those reliable sources were still around, Yokimoto would have them executed without trial in an extremely slow and painful fashion.

He flipped through the first file and saw pictures and stats of his childhood into his teenage years. From a skinny runt to a taller skinny runt. There wasn't anything all that horribly scandalous that the president could use against Reno. Basic murders, assaults, and even arson but that wasn't anything plausible, hell, those hardly endearing characteristics were the reason Shinra made the spitfire a Turk to begin with.

"Damn..."

Yokimoto slammed the folder shut and ran a hand through his thick hair anxiously. A Turk for ten years and not one incriminating thing he could use to nail the loud moth. This was surely a nightmare that far exceeded the nightmare Reno had originally inflicted on the company curator.

An assertive knock sounded at the door causing the bitter man to awaken from his mental turmoil of the hour, deprecating thoughts leaving his mind momentarily.

"Who is it?"

"It's Reeve, sir," came a muffled voice from behind the barrier separating the two men from achieving eye to eye contact.

"Enter."

Reeve walked in and revealed without second thought how truly a mess he was. His normally happy go lucky personality was no longer evident in currently tempestuous brown eyes. Reeve was also not dressed in his assigned navy blue suit but instead, jeans and a wrinkled t-shirt that appeared to not have been a part of his clean assortment of laundry.

"What is it, Reeve? I'm busy so this better be good."

The tall Shinra employee said nothing more, only threw down a thin file marked CLASSIFIED across the manilla cover. Malicious eyes focused on the man across from him as silence snaked evilly through the cracks of an unwelcoming room.

"You're looking for information to take Reno down. This should do more than suffice."

President Yokimoto looked from the folder to his disheveled company. There wasn't enough of a conscience to ask what was wrong, why there was a foreign scowl instead of a usually registered smile. Greed laced into the crimson of his blood and all he could see was the possibilities this folder possessed.

"Thank you, Reeve. You can go now."

"I'd prefer you to open the file first, sir."

"What does it matter?" the businessman asked quirking an eyebrow up suspiciously, narrowing his eyes in desperation to unmask true intentions.

"It doesn't. I just wanted to see if this is what you wanted, what you needed in your crusade," Reeve answered, not bothering to exchange expressions for the one he had, he felt, was convincing enough.

The new head of Shinra didn't say another word; he lowered the eyebrow and proceeded to open, in his own twisted mentality, heaven's gate. Eyes widened in horrifying disbelief, veins making another cameo on tanned temples for what he saw caused him to nearly tear the evidence in half.

"Is this a joke?" Yokimoto shouted, grabbing a photograph of Reno and a member of AVALANCHE at a cafe obviously not against public displays of affection, "Where and how did you get this?"

"There were suspicions of Reno and Yuffie Kisaragi engaging in activities which would be considered treason during the time of Shinra's rebirth. Vice President Medina hired an investigation and came up with those pictures. How they ended up in my hands is simple. As you know, Medina was stealing funding for Shinra and dipping a little too often in the corporation's account therefore causing his permanent leave. When Medina was booted, I was assigned to clean out his office and came across these pictures. The affair had long since ended so I kept them and didn't show any information unless the affair was yet again to resurface. I am showing this to you now because I firmly believe Reno deserves...his just rewards."

Yokimoto fumed while looking down at the photographs once again, his eyes only picking up red pigments. In his paranoia, he automatically imagined the worst, the two still together and planning to bring Shinra to the ground from the inside. It was already apparent AVALANCHE wanted the company gone, now that they had a member, a Turk, on their side, it would be far more simple to accomplish the task.

He crumbled the picture up in his tightening fist before slamming it down. The president was made a complete fool of and the realization of that simple thought caused an unsaddled temper to flare twice as angrily than before.

"Get Rude and Elena in my office first thing tomorrow morning!"

Reeve just nodded his head once and turned his back to make a quiet departure. A smile spread across his face; Shinra wasn't well known for ends meeting fairly but this time justice would finally be achieved. Even friends needed a taste of their own bitter medicine.

-

Scarlet walked down the hallway of Shinra's dormitories, a scowl of disappointment painting her face a shade no amount of makeup could hide. This was the second time Reno had flaked on her and it was beginning to become a very annoying trait the redhead possessed. She sighed, brushing a strand of curly hair from her line of vision. The hauty woman was considering a permanent severance from the Turk but sadly realized that once the moment came, she would cave.

He would put on the charm, nibble the earlobe a bit.

She would purposely melt away any common sense preventing stupidity.

And there they'd be, in bed again, right back to square one.

"I'm gonna kill him," Scarlet murmured to herself, continuing to walk until she was within the familiarity of her own apartment style dorm. It was a rough night and all she wanted to do was sink herself into a nice hot bath, washing away all insecurity and anger.

Approaching closer to her door, piercing violet eyes noticed something placed carefully above the knob. She couldn't tell exactly what it was from the distance and the curiosity only caused the sassy weapon's expert to walk more lenient towards a stride instead of steps.

She reached out and grabbed the quadratic piece of paper, as soon as she was mere footsteps away from entering her quarters. Eyes widened at the sight of Reno with the skinny twit of AVALANCHE. Full lips twitched in fury as her body heat and blood pressure increased considerably.

"I'M GONNA KILL HIM!"

-

"What are you doing?"

Reno continued to caress the younger woman with his lips, feeling her body shudder against him. He ignored the question, harmones causing a ripple effect resulting in a deafening sensation. Calloused hands explored her body hungrily as he replaced lips on her collarbone.

"Reno, stop," Yuffie breathed, pushing the persistent courtier back mainly focusing on whatever strength and resolve she had left within.

"Isn't that what you were pissing and moaning about?" Reno asked, placing his hands up on the wall to remove any temptation of relocating his hands on soft skin.

"You're about a year too late."

Silence filled the claustrophobic area as the two stared at each other to find some kind of solace. So much was meant to be said yet nothing proved the words were deserved. Yuffie proceeded to open her mouth until a familiar voice cut her off immediately.

"Yuffie, her name is Yuffie. She's about 5'3, skinny, brown hair."

"Oh no...that's Tifa! Get lost, Turk," Yuffie hissed, pushing the taller of the two back as her dark eyes darted to the side to make sure there were no unwelcomed visitors.

"Hmm...Tifa, one of your AVALANCHE cronies?"

"So?"

"Shit! What great fucking fortune! She's coming to me, making my job a whole lot easier."

The small brunette pushed Reno back with enough strength to knock him over without remorse, "Get out of here, asshole! I mean it. If Tifa finds me here with you I've got more explaining to do than I'd like to elaborate on."

"We need to talk."

"Not now!"

"When?"

"After I get the lobotomy Tifa's gonna give me when she finds me alone in a dark alley with a Turk."

"Sugar, all you have to do is tell me when and where we can talk about something I figured would be beneficiary to you and the troops," Reno explained, lighting up a cigarette he had previously plucked from his jacket lapel, "and poof, I disappear into thin air until our next rendeavouz. Now I can't disappear because I don't know exactly when to reappear."

"Yuffie. You in here?"

"No, no..Cloud," Yuffie proclaimed, running a nervous hand through her hair while shooting her smug ex a venomous look," Fine. Friday, same time, Yum Yum Diner. Now go!"

Reno smiled after getting his way, jumping up to his feet and looking his "enemy" up and down one last time, "Pleasure seeing you again, darling."

"I can definitely assure you the pleasure was all yours."

"Always so linguistically polite."

"Wouldn't want to disappoint when it comes to insulting you. Now get lost," Yuffie spat, pushing Reno away with one hand.

"Now, just to verify, we're meeting again on Friday, right?"

"Yes!"

"Today's Thursday so that makes Friday tomorrow."

"Thanks for the update, would you like to brush me up on my numbers too?" Yuffie wheezed bitterly while pushing her iron footed annoyance back and away from discovery.

"Actually, I would. I have my doubts of your ability to tell time so I think I better ask your do-gooder tribe to give you a few lessons. Wouldn't want ignorance to be the excuse for you not showing up."

"I'll be there! Now get out of here!"

Reno smirked and winked before walking off into the shadows as promised, "See ya tomorrow then, love."

"Yuffie?"

"In here," Yuffie shouted, still staring into the shadows that her former lover sashayed so incredibly cocky into. It had been one year since he disappeared from her life and yet, he still shakes her up the same way he had when they first started seeing each other.

"We've been looking all over for you," Tifa exclaimed as soon as she met up with the ninja, "What are you doing in here?"

"...Sightseeing..."

"We're going back to the house," Cloud stated, cutting short the sarcastic remarks but not without shooting his comrade a look that lacked mercy, "We'll talk when we get back."

The eldest of the three turned his back and walked out of the alley with his childhood friend right behind him. Onyx eyes looked up at the sky and sighed, "Reno, this better be worth it."


End file.
